Some more of the Night market

Sunny side up eggs anyone? They are much smaller than our typical eggs, so I think these are duck eggs or something. Its interesting to see how they make it.

They have this circular vessel with about 27 semi spherical cavities, and into each of them they empty the contents of an egg. A lot like the way we make Mini idli's actually :)

This pan cake wrap was particularly good

It had a green filling - I think this is Surat Thani's famous egg custard. In the pic, its the one that looks like a pyramid-shaped wrap (on the table - front, left)

Night market at Surat Thani

My quest for the banana-coconut-sticky rice snack kept me wandering around Surat Thani city. Thanks to the directions from a lot of people, I landed up at the Night market mostly by accident (Sunday nights = Night markets in Thailand). And what an enchanting experience it was- I sampled a lot of street food, and all of them were delicious !! I found quite a few vegetarian dishes, and even got a (slightly different) banana-rice snack. Thanks to Curro for suggesting the Fruit Shakes. I tried the Tomato shake, and it was GOOD !

Sunset at the Surat thani pier

I reached the port at Surat Thani at about 6 pm today. Settled the night boat headed for Ko Tao and then wandered around town. I have been blessed with amazingly beautiful sunsets all through this trip, and this one was no exception..

The overnight boat to Ko Tao..

This is the sleeping compartment of the boat I am taking to Ko Tao from Surat Thani. It leaves at 11 pm, and reaches Ko Tao around 8 in the morning.

A boat anchored in Phi Phi Island

The lake at sunset

It was even more magical to see all the large rocks bathed in an orange glow !

Take-away Coffee anyone?

In a bamboo cup !

There is light at the end of the cave

This was taken just after our caving adventure. It was wet, wild and scary but amazing FUN.

And no, I am not posing in this pic. The pic was taken with teh camera timer so I had to run to position.

Cave - nothing like I have ever experienced

The image is of the entrance to the cave

Lake + Cave tour

There is this real big lake in the National park, and today we went on a Lake tour day trip. It was a little expensive, and I was a bit skeptical about how it would turnout. But, it was FANTASTIC. I didn have much expectations from this trip and that made it all the better actually. There were many limestone rock formations along and in the lake, and boat weaved its way through them. The pic above, is just one of the several "Gateways to heaven"

Lunch at the River cottages

Mmmm .. Delicious and visually soothing as well

Khao Sok cottage - great deal

There was this incredibly beautiful sunset that evening at the park. Here is my attempt to capture its indescribable beauty with my camera. The pic is taken from a bridge over a small stream (they call it river)

I stayed at a cottage by the river - the establishment was called Bamboo something. Rooms were superb(the pic on the right) - at THB 200, they were much better than the barebones place I got in HatYai.

Khao Sak National Park at last

And my oh my - the last part of the drive was very scenic indeed! The moment I reached the place, I felt very happy. There was something about the place - the peace and tranquility almost made time to slow down !

Surat Thanni - City of Happy people

Stopped for about 2 hours here. Got off one mini bus (more like a Van) and got into another. The travel agency was right opposite this grand Wat (or Buddhist temple).

Day One - In this Hat Yai place

I landed on Monday night (ard 10) at this place called Hat Yai, which is close to the Thailand-Malaysia border. Stayed at a small place called Cathay Guest house - a small, funcitonal place. I left the place on Tuesday morning, to go to SuratThani and then to Khao Sok Natl park

Another adventure begins...

Yay!!

    Today I head off to Thailand - the land of smiles, Buddhas, more Buddhas and smiling Buddhas and lots of sand n surf and plenty of fun! First stop-  Hat Yai by Tiger airways. From there I move up north to the Islands of Phuket, Phi phi and Phang Na and Krabi. Having soaked up enough sun, I continue to journey upwards to Bangkok.

As for Hat Yai, I reach there at about 930 in the night and will spend the night at a guest house. Tomorrow morning, I look for a way to get to the Thale Noi bird sanctuary or the other (I am forgetting the name) national park.

 

 

In Italy, nobody really bothers much about the rules 

Via Forte Marchera - this is a road in the town of Mestre. This town has roads, and cars, and roads and lots of land. 15 mins across a bridge, you reach Venice and the whole landscape changes. Choosing a hotel in Mestre makes a lot of sense, not just because of the huge price difference  

ATTENTION: CANINE FRIEND WILL SHOW NO MERCY IF IT FINDS YOU IN CLOSE QUARTERS 

Boarding a Vaporetto at teh Piazzale Roma bus/Vaporetto stop 

Taking a trip down the Grand canal in a Vaporetto or public boat 

This building had a sculpture of a Skull and something like a scroll under it... Any guesses what this signifies 

Flags = hotel 

The Da Vinci museum in Venice. The Vitruviuan man is located here 

Some houses along the canal. People here have their own motorized boats. The concept of cars dont exist 

Some tourists enjoying a morning ride on a Gondola. There is no fun in taking a gondola ride along the Grand canal. Choose some of the smaller, canals that criss cross the lagoon. They have much more personality and much less tourist hullabaloo 

RIALTO - one of the most famous of venetian landmarks.  

The Rialto, from up close. We hope to be coming here later in the evening today 

A house with orange exteriors and a green shutter. Somehow the colour was standing out 

A arch bridge along the canal 

The Peggy Guggenheim Collection. Peggy was the neice of Solomon R Guggenheim, whose ultra slick museum in New York houses some of the great treasures of modern art 

A building with an interesting patchwork painting on its wall